Medical Ethics

The traditional family unit based on a heterosexual marriage forms the building block upon which the overall structure of a successful society is derived. Consequently, sexual reproduction is not just a physical act, but one with consequences with immense power to exert an effect on every aspect of society.

Technologies that are used to assist the process of reproduction need to have a solid moral foundation and framework with clearly defined limitations on the techniques employed. The goal of the moral framework employed should be based on the preservation of the family unit.

Based on these points, the fusion of the egg with the sperm for the purposes of reproduction should be limited to married couples. This will ensure that the resulting embryo maintains its biological and social integrity as part of its family unit.

A lack of an ethical framework for the use of reproductive technologies such as egg and sperm donations causes arbitrary use leading inevitably to abuse. For example, fertility clinics in Cape Town are currently running advertisements for couples in the US and the UK to come to South Africa for inexpensive fertility services. The adverts promise multiracial egg donations as part of a “vacation package” which includes sight seeing at the popular holiday destination. Young local students are offered money in exchange for donations of their eggs. In addition to undergoing extensive medical procedures, the donors help produce children with whom they will have no emotional or familial ties.

At the end of the day, the victims are the defenseless children. Furthermore, this type of abuse as well as other irresponsible uses lacking the necessary ethical framework only serve to cause an irreversible damage to the produced child, the traditional family unit and hence all of society eventually.

The only way to ensure that this useful technology is used for the greater good of society is to protect the boundaries within which it is applied and ensure the preservation of the traditional family unit by limiting the fusion of the egg and the sperm to that of married couples only.